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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

Another speaks up for Bill O’Brien

Again, Bill O’Brien has been endorsed by GraniteGrok for Speaker of the NH House; it seems that another powerful voice in the Liberty and Freedom movement is speaking up for him – and for the right reason (emphasis mine).  Heck, he made the Extremist 16, didn’t he?

Bill O’Brien for Speaker

I have served three previous terms in the House, from 2002 through 2008. Each provided its own education from an organizational standpoint. During the first, we had enormous Republican majorities in both Chambers and a conservative Governor. During the second, we had smaller Republican majorities and a Democrat Governor. During the third, there were large Democrat majorities and a Democrat Governor.

The most frustrating of these terms? Surprisingly, to me it was the first, under the Speakership of Gene Chandler, because despite having a golden opportunity to solidify and extend New Hampshire’s unique standing as a haven of free enterprise and personal liberty in New England, we were unable to pass even basic Republican Party Platform priorities. The reason? Leadership that allowed itself to be co-opted by process, more interested in meeting arbitrarily set deadlines for Getting Things Done than in the content of what was done; more interested in indulging in feuds with Senate Leadership and the Governor than in supporting solid Republican initiatives. Having high expectations and watching them die through the indifference, confusion and negligence of your own leaders is sometimes worse than having had no expectations to begin with.

Legislating is not a parlor game. Despite what people from the outside will tell you about the virtues of bipartisanship,…

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Well, here’s the guy that stood up to the League Of Women Voters Moderator.

I still suggest that you go and watch this "insurgency video" where Patriotism trumped "our betters" attitude!

Got this long comment a bit ago – and I have seen it on other sites that also posted the video – I decided to post it up as it is worth reading what he has to say!

BTW, about that moderator?  Yeah, The Exec. Director (Jan Czarnik) has called ordinary Americans, proud of their country and their allegiance to it, "phony patriotism.  And the moderator, Kathy Tate-Bradish, herself?  Organizing for America.

My name is Joe Ptak and I live in Island Lake, Illinois. I attended the Joe Walsh-Melissa Bean "forum" and I WAS THE INDIVIDUAL who stood up and wanted to know why the pledge of allegiance was not going to be recited? I thought it might have been an oversight. I was flabbergasted and stunned to hear the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS moderator say to me, and the audience, that it was never part of their program at these events and in essence saying it will not allowed.

Please keep in mind that this "forum" was organized in Grayslake High School for the benefit of the students, who were asking the questions. Furthermore, there were numerous students present (gaining extra credit) as well as 350 adults and media who packed the auditorium.

I served in the USAFR’s for ten (10) years and there were many veterans in attendance. I was so proud when the audience rose up one by one, then in mass to recite the pledge of allegiance with loud and heavy emphasis on the words LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. The moderator then had the gall to admonish the audience and for "disrespecting her"? My wife told me if that woman did not shut up she was going to get her "Brooklyn up" (being from NY).

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Taxes and Government is NOT Individual Charity

In a Letter to the Editor to the Wall Street Journal, one of my favorite economists (and Libertarian), Professor Don Boudreau over at Cafe Hayek, gets it EXACTLY right concerning taxes, charity, and those that conflate / confuse the two (emphasis mine):

Jack Kinstlinger alleges that Tea Partiers are motivated by “greed and selfishness” and “reject what is fundamental to our religious teachings – that it is our duty to help those less fortunate and that we cannot live in isolation but are part of a larger community” (Letters, Oct. 23).

I have no idea what motivates the typical Tea Partier, but I do know that opposition to a heavy-handed government is not evidence of “greed” or of the absurd belief that human beings are not “part of a larger community.”

There’s a long tradition of classical liberalism – boasting names such as Adam Smith, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Madison, Jefferson, Tocqueville, Macaulay, Gladstone, Cobden, Mencken, and Hayek – based on the understanding that forced “charity” is not generosity; that no agency better serves the narrow and anti-social goals of the truly greedy than does the state; and that individuals left to regulate their own affairs with a minimum of interference from government will create extensive and deep patterns of social cooperation that are far more effective at meeting human needs than will any bureaucracy or program imposed by the state.

Indeed – those that "special interest" the Government are almost ALWAYS…

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Data Points – Who got stimulated, and who gets the bucks??

Did our Founding Fathers truly believe that Government should have primacy over Society / citizens? Hardly.  Yet, that is EXACTLY what has happened the last few years – Carol Shea-Porter, Paul Hodes, and Jeane Shaheen have voted to enable this to happen. Who got the bulk of stimulus money?  The Political Class: Who is deemed … Read more

GralkTALK! – Can you smell that November is nigh?

GrokTALK! Saturday morning at 9 – 11 am!   GrokTalk! A mixture of politics, culture, current events, and well, politics, it is an Internet Radio show streaming live audio and video directly from GraniteGrok.  Using a solidly Conservative and Rational Libertarian lens, we’ll take on almost any topic and have notables from the news, political … Read more

Shafted

(H/T: Bill)

Patriotism – go ahead, be prissy and try to stop it.

Update: Shades of Jim Bender! After I posted this last night, something was nagging me from the back of my mind – and he was it! At the Seacoast Republican Women’s debate, the NH CD-1 Congressional candidates had gone on first, and The Pledge was recited at that time. The Senatorial candidates came on stage … Read more

Friday Humor – YET ANOTHER Obama getting buried joke…

(H/T: Tom) Oh, by the way, you Politically Correct weenies out there? Rasmussen: 57% of Adults believe America today has become too politically correct 74% regard political correctness as a problem in America today. Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters said last November that political correctness prevented the U.S. military from responding to warning signs that … Read more

Email Doodlings – On Religion in the public square – Part 1

On one string, there was a discussion about God, politicians and politics – that they were not too enthused about people talking about their faith.  In one case, this was first said:

"…The Marxists and collective Salvationists of the left, and the Christian Fundamentalists of the right…"

and said that these people could stop populism that is the TEA Party movement.  To further this thought, this was quoted about Sharon Angle (NV-R, trying to oust Dingy Harry from his Senatorial seat):

"We have become a country entrenched in idolatry, and that idolatry is the dependency upon our government. We’re supposed to depend upon God for our protection and our provision and for our daily bread, not for our government," she said.

and then proceeded with a negative commentary about those of faith cause others to be fearful.

So, you think I could leave that alone??? I certainly went ballistic on the first assertion (so, Christians are the same as Marxists???).  And as an evangelical Christian, I agree with Sharon Angle that God, and God alone, is who we should be dependent upon.  Secularists and Progressives CERTAINLY are pushing policies so that people are and will be come more and more dependent on Government.

Here was step 1 of my answer:

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I have EVERY intention of doing The Happy Dance

National Journal used to do Right vs Left Blogger poll on a weekly basis and GraniteGrok used to be part of that – and we enjoyed participating!  Well, they dropped that feature but kept me on their email list and this was in the latest missive: EXCLUSIVE to National Journal: Obama, McConnell Each Call for … Read more

The Lobby….

Well, the collaboration between the Nashua Telegraph and New Hamphsire Business Report has just gone live: At the time, I wondered if James Pindell’s site, at $400 / year, would be viable long term; at least he gave it 6 months FREE to build traffic.  This site? It’s going paid in 2 weeks.  Yup – … Read more

Speaking of Pindell…

when I referenced him here…it reminded me of WMUR (d’oh!) and this (yeah, a day late on my part)….WMUR Poll.  Summary:

  • Repubs may take back the NH House (most likely) & Senate (nailbiter?).
  • Likely voters are liking Repubs than Dems (47% vs 39%) and Rs are gaining more traction.

Next part gave me the wonders ("oh really?") – think: drink beer with?  Dinner with?  Go take a look at which candidates got which percentage – 

Kelly Ayotte, Charlie Bass, Frank Guinta, Paul Hodes, Ann McLane Kuster,  John Lynch,  Carol Shea-Porter, John Stephen

My pick?

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Democrat Deb Reynolds: game playing (and badly at that?)

(GraniteGrok Image) For Immediate Release                                                                      Contact: Jeanie ForresterOctober 20, 2010,                                                                               (603) 279-1459 jeanie@jeanieforrester.com Meredith–Jeanie Forrester today expressed her disappointment with Deb Reynolds’ decision to turn what should have been an open and honest debate opportunity into a political stunt. Three weeks ago Americans for Prosperity had attempted to organize a debate on October 20 between … Read more

Email Doodlings – “…concerning the Public Dole…”

Once again, back to the email well.  This came from a while ago, where one person was complaining, as a taxpayer, about the entitlement mentality (emphasis mine):

There are no “ifs” about it…its was a failure the moment it was conceived…what we are being pushed into is an escalation of class warfare…I’ve stated many time publicly that I resent the poor…anyone can be poor…it takes a responsible minded person who wants more out of life to do what is necessary to be a productive citizen that doesn’t drain the life out of the rest of society…certainly we need to take care of those that CANNOT take care of themselves, but we MUST stop this entitlement mentality…free cell phones paid for by those of use that pay our phone bills, free cars for people on welfare so they can find a job, EBT cards instead of those humiliating food stamps, free and subsidized rents, etc…

There was one person that got very upset, saying that due to circumstances beyond their control, the Safety Net was used and this person felt quite put upon.  However, I differed, and this was my reply:

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Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McKluster are so scared of The Pledge, they can’t even open their envelopes!

 

Carol Shea-Porter reject 1

and:

Heh!  This is just SO rich.  BOTH sound like they are oh so reasonable with taxpayer money – after all, they only want to help others – with yet other peoples’ money.  ANY attempt to limit their access to that last item causes them to recoil in absolute horror!

The Pledge has been around for a while – a bulwark protecting NH taxpayers.  Tom Thompson, honorary Chair of Americans for Prosperity – NH, has been asking all of the candidates to sign The Pledge; the pledge is here.  It’s purpose?  A word that is hated by most politicians across the fruited plain – especially by Progressive ones:

Accountable

Sign The Pledge?  You have officially promised to be held accountable.  Progressives hate to be held to account – after all, if we all did, they wouldn’t be around.  So, of whom do I speak?  Merely the biggest Progressives in NH – who realize that their plans for a bigger and more centralized Government would be more rancid than two week old fillet of fish out in the sun.  That’s right:

Carol "The Thief" Shea-Porter and Ann McKluster

Why say this? When given the chance, when the opportunity arose, they chickened out.  They just didn’t return their Pledges, they didn’t just open the envelope, read the letter – they wouldn’t even accept the Certified Mail!

Tom Thompson?  Looks like just his name strikes terror in the hearts of the big spenders….the Progressives.

See Carol’s up top?  And McKuster’s?  The other halfs after the jump:

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A small biz owner: marking the ballot for Jeanie Forrester

Got this via email today.  Given that we endorsed Jeanie a while ago, I am pleased to post it up!

Dear Editor,

I’m a small businessman here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and voted for the first time using an absentee ballot. My choices weren’t hard for a few of the candidates running, especially for the two women vying for the District 2 State Senate Seat.

Prior to voting, I was determined to talk with Jeanie Forrester and Deb Reynolds. Jeannie and I spoke about the issues the week of the NH primary. She resonated with me with her stance on small business issues.

Small business carries lots of the water here in NH. We have one of the highest business profits tax in the nation. Jeanie suggested two things that could help lower the tax rate businesses like me pay on profits. Understand that if my profits tax is lower, I can use that extra money to hire more people. Adding jobs is a good thing for everyone.

Jeanie Forrester talked about scaling back the size of government to help reduce the tax burden. She also talked about adopting a program similar to what the state of Kentucky did in the 1980’s to attract new business. Kentucky offered businesses a moratorium on their property taxes for up to ten years.

Ten days ago I got a campaign card in the mail from incumbent Deb Reynolds. At the bottom it had her phone number. I dialed the number and discovered it was wrong. Are you kidding me? What does that tell you about attention to detail?

After calling her state senate office,…

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Live blogging (after the fact)-Rochester 9/12 Project last nite – Part 1

Well, like I said last night, the Rochester (NH) 9/12 Project group had its meeting last night.  No Wifi at the church meant no live streaming, but hey, there’s YouTube and Blip.TV.  Jerry and Sue DeLemus were kind enough to invite the ‘Grok to do our stuff. Speakers included Jack Kimball, Dan Itse, Frank Guinta, … Read more

Live blogging (after the fact)-Rochester 9/12 Project last nite – Part 2

Following on the initial ceremonies, we had the first two speakers: Jack Kimball, founder of the Granite State Patriots, co-founding member of the NH TEA Party Coalition, and ran to be the Republican nominee for NH Governor.  He gave a short, crowd pleasing speech, exhorting the assembled to get out and vote and made the … Read more

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